affect, effect
Affect and effect are easily confused. The guidelines below will help you to choose the right word.
Use affect if you mean
- to influence
- Budgetary constraints have seriously affected our grants and contributions.
- to feign, to simulate
- Jerome affected a British accent when recounting his travels abroad.
- to move, to touch
- The Smiths were deeply affected by the loss of their pet cockatoo.
- to pretend
- Jackie affected to despise science fiction, yet she was avidly reading all of Isaac Asimov’s robot novels.
- to hinder; to hurt
- How does low literacy affect the health of Canadians?
Use effect if you mean
- to bring about
- Can you effect those improvements by the end of the first quarter?
- Jessie became involved in her community and effected many changes.
- to carry out
- We need the support of all stakeholders before we can effect health care reform.
- an impact
- The Supreme Court ruling will have a lasting effect on official languages services
- an impression
- The artist stood back to take in the overall effect of his painting.
- an outcome; a result
- The committee members hoped the measures would produce a positive effect.
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